Begetting Hate
by Feral Smile
Summary: [Cycle of Hatred: Book Two]In this world there is good and there is evil, but the two aren't mutually exclusive, and the world isn't in black and white. After all, villains rarely see themselves as evil.


**Summary of Book One:**

**(SPOILERS; READ BOOK ONE}**

_Naruto is activated for ANBU at age sixteen due to escalations in Kumo and Iwa. He quickly stands out in the horrifying and dehumanizing training program and starts his new life with his new team. _

_Joining Special Operations sporting Kakashi's old mask and gear, Naruto loses most of what he had in common with normal shinobi. Desensitized by the nature of the program, he loses something Konoha holds very dear. After a mission gone horribly wrong, Naruto is deactivated due to trauma. _

_While he's deactivated, he has a visitor with a proposition, and he enters the world of Black Operations. Now an Operative, and going by the code name Karasu, Naruto and his partner engage in dirty, impossible jobs that strain the limits of even elite ninja. Confident in their abilities, tragedy strikes when his partner, Neji, is killed by a Hyuuga member, prompting Naruto to snap and slaughter the entire clan. He models himself after Itachi, leaving one survivor. _

_He forsakes the leaf village, mind poisoned by the training and experiences of both a Special Operator and a Black Operative, and vows to destroy his former home. He meets Karin, a fellow Uzumaki, and slowly falls for her while traveling and working for Kiri. Staying low and training during the next World War, which he helped facilitate, Naruto gets his chance to take back his home after securing an alliance with Suna's new Kazekage. _

_With the help of Karin, a girl from his ANBU days, and Itachi, Naruto successfully destroys the village of Konoha. Upon it's smoldering ashes, he founds the Village Hidden in the Flames._

**_(END OF THE SPOILERS; YOU JERK)_**

* * *

**Chapter One**

_The Founding and the Finding_

**Konoha, Past**

_Tsunade_

As a medic, you learn a certain level of detachment from whomever you're attempting to save. That way, the fact that you're elbow deep in someone else's blood, with their very life in your hand doesn't overexcite you and cause you to become sloppy. Your patients are relying on you to save their lives, so you can't get overwhelmed with the fact that they might die and it _might be your fault_.

Healing Hyuuga Hanabi, however, brought a new level of numb absentness. Her physical injuries were relatively minor; second-degree burns, a couple cracked bones, broken wrists and a small concussion. All were fairly simple fixes. What won't be a simple fix is the psychological damage, and despite being one of the best known doctors, I was ill-equipped to handle it.

To that end, I summoned Sasuke and permanently assigned him to Hanabi as a bodyguard. Unofficially, he was to help her through this. Who else could even begin to help her? Our mental wing had started to work with her over the last week, but they had yet to make any progress. Thankfully, that was to be expected. This soon after the tragedy, Hanabi was still processing what had happened. The pain hadn't hit her yet.

Because I had assigned Sasuke to Hanabi to protect her and perhaps help her, I was unable to send him after Naruto. I would have preferred to send him with Sakura and her team, but Hanabi was of vital importance to the village. Not only is she the only Hyuuga left alive as far as we can tell, but her Doujutsu is one of our villages greatest deterrents. Just having the Byakugan has saved lives in the past.

But when her team returned with Shikamaru needing emergency surgery and Kiba also in bad shape, I regretted my decision. Something did not add up. Naruto was supposed to be a civilian. I knew Jiraiya would train him while they were gone, but I definitely did not expect whatever this was. The man would explain what he had done to my Naruto.

That would come later. Right now, I watched as Hanabi sat with her legs pulled up to her chin, eyes unfocused. In her hands she held a cold cup of tea. Behind her stood Sasuke, who was perfectly still except for his head, which followed anyone who was moving. He looked out of place in the brightly colored room with his black AnBu uniform.

"Hanabi?" I asked gently, reaching a hand out slowly towards her. "How are you feeling today?"

Her eyes flickered to the right, and she curled up a little tighter. "Leave me alone."

"We're here to help you, Hanabi."

She looked at me. "Just go away."

Hanabi continued staring at me, so I decided not to push her any further today. I stood to leave.

"Notify me if there's any change." This I said to Sasuke.

I have more pressing matters than Hanabi's recovery.

* * *

_Sasuke_

I haven't even gone on a mission yet. I haven't been assigned a team. As soon as I graduate from the hell that was training, I get put on babysitting duty. Oh, that's well and truly harsh, it's true. Hanabi just experienced an almost unimaginable loss, and yet here I am in full form wishing that I could be elsewhere.

The Lord Hokage is right, I'm the only one who knows what she's going through. She'll most likely identify with me and attach to me later down the road. For now, however, it's simply guard duty. A useless gesture, because if I learned anything about special operations while in their training, it's that if a Special Operator wanted to kill someone, they would be dead.

He wouldn't have left her lying there if he wanted her dead.

Naruto. What have you done? You've become a monster in my absence. Did I drive him to this? Did he crack under the loss of his friend? No…Naruto is stronger than that. What happened to him while I was away? What could have caused him to do this?!

I realized that I was making fists. My arms hurt from how hard I was clenching my hands. Naruto is now her Itachi. But did Naruto have a reason, like Itachi? Were his reasons pure? I want to believe in him. I want to trust him. But I no longer even _know_ him…

But this isn't about him. Right now, it's about Hanabi. She mustn't follow in my footsteps. That was the unspoken order of the Hokage. She mustn't become me. If Orochimaru hadn't…if I hadn't met Suigetsu…Karin…and Juugo…

She had been sending everyone away. Hanabi seemed to accept my presence primarily because of my silence, but every other visitor had been turned away, or had the door shut in their face. The Hokage, however, she could not turn away. She tried, but when I cleared my throat, she must have realized that I wouldn't allow that sort of disrespect.

The fact that she responded to my warning gave me hope. It's important to keep her under expectations. It's imperative that she isn't coddled. This is a sentiment that her Jounin sensei seemed to agree with me on, although it didn't stop me from palming a kunai in warning when she attempted to force her way into the room. No, for now I will allow her the solitude she craves.

A knock on the door brought my head up. When Hanabi didn't respond, it inched open and a face I recognized as her teammate edged around the corner.

"H-Hanabi?"

She made no reply. The boy at the door stepped inside and closed it behind him. After a quick look at me, he walked forward slowly.

"Heya kid." He plopped down next to her and patted her roughly on the back. "How've you been?"

I rolled my eyes at his dense behavior. He was exactly like a young Naru- well…we'll leave off that.

"Fine."

I glanced at the top of the girls head. It was the first response that she'd given anyone beyond "Leave." Or variations of the same. I took a step back and then made a show of leaving to give them privacy. Instead, I simply walked around the corner and intensified my other senses to keep tabs on her.

"You better keep training or else you're gunna fall behind." I heard a small thump and recognized it as the sound of a fist hitting a shoulder. "And I'm not going to take it easy on ya!"

My ward made no reply, verbal or otherwise. I almost sighed.

"Hanabi." The boy's voice was serious now. "When Moegi and sensei died, I felt like it couldn't be real. Like someone was playing a trick on me and that they'd show up at training the next day."

He laughed softly, full of sadness. "Except…they didn't. After a while…you came instead.

"At first I hated you. I thought you were an arrogant bitch, someone who felt better than Udon and me. I felt like you were trying to replace Moegi…and no one can ever replace her. But we did missions together…and we became rivals. You became my friend…my best friend. Hana-sensei always pitted us against each other…and somehow Udon kept us from fighting…

"My point is…I never forgot about Moegi or Sensei…but making friends with you, and learning from Hana-sensei…it helped. You both helped Udon and me through the pain. And now it's our turn to help you through yours."

"Please…" That was Hanabi's voice. I tensed, ready to move at the desperation in her tone. "Just let me be alone."

"…Okay." I heard the boy get to his feet, and listened to him walk across the room to the door. There was a creaking as it opened, and as it closed, I walked back around the corner and positioned myself behind her.

I stood for perhaps an hour, with the only measure of the time being the darkening room due to the lowering of the sun. I was contemplating speaking to her when out of nowhere she lunged to her feet and threw the cold tea with all her might into the wall. The glass broke, sending fragments skittering everywhere. In the same breath she overturned the table in front of her and kicked it, breaking it and sending it rolling along the floor as well.

Frustrated screams punctuated her destructive rage as the attacked the chairs, the pictures on the wall, and even the assorted glassware in the kitchen. Through all of this I stood still, not for fear of becoming a target, but because this didn't involve me. The girl didn't look at me, or acknowledge my presence. Instead, she went through the room, screaming and breaking things.

"WHY US?!" Hanabi had run out of things to throw. Now she was punching the wall and beating it with her fists. "WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE MY FAMILY?!"

She sank to the ground and started hitting the floor feebly. Huge, wracking sobs escaped her as she muttered unintelligible things, asking why her, what did she do wrong. Her sadness and anger collapsed in upon itself as she started to run out of steam, and maybe twenty minutes later, she fell asleep crying softly on the floor.

I felt my joints creak as I moved for the first time in hours. I approached the girl and gently picked her up. Avoiding shattered cups and splinters of wood, I carried her silently to her room, and put her on the bed. I wrapped her blanket around her and walked to the nearby armchair. I settled down for a tactical nap.

* * *

**Kumo, Present**

_Yugito_

The summons had been shocking to say the least. Oh how A had raged. He had screamed and yelled and promised destruction for this disrespect, but after we spoke to him about it, he calmed down. When Hisaki had first demanded that I become one of their ninja, I had laughed. What manner of creature would threaten a world power while he resources had already been spent attacking Konoha?

Now Konoha no longer exists. His message said that I was the price for peace. After speaking to B, and the council of elders, we decided it was for the best. If Hisaki became a world power, I would be in a unique position to foster relations with Kumo.

And dare I hope that Hisaki would be different? Maybe there I can make friends! Oh it's true, here I have A and B…but they're family. They're obligated to care about me. But no matter how flawless my ninja record and no matter how dedicated and loyal I am…Kumo will never accept me like they accepted B. He's so charismatic…and I can't stand people. The demon wench, I'm called. Well maybe it IS time for a new start.

So in the name of peace, we had convinced A to discharge me and send me home. I collected the things I held dear, and met my traveling party at the gates. Uchiha Sasuke had arrived to verify the hawk message that Konoha had been destroyed and to demand that I leave with him, so his presence was expected. But the other was a welcome surprise.

There, at the massive front gates, stood my brothers. The Raikage was there to see me off. And of course, B was there as well. They grinned at me, and I felt myself smiling back despite myself. Truly, they would be what I missed most about Kumo. What a gift it was to have just a little more precious time with them.

If the presence of three of Kumo's most powerful Shinobi made the Uchiha nervous, he didn't show it. Instead, he watched impassively as I was enveloped in the huge arms of the Raikage, and made no show of emotion when the same warned that if any harm came to me, he would bring the full might of Kumo down upon Hisaki. I almost rolled my eyes at his theatrics. Kumo was in no state to bring the full might of anything down on anyone, but I adopted a stern expression that backed up what he said regardless.

After we had said our goodbyes, we set off while the Raikage turned away, saying that he had gotten something in his eye. What an old geezer. I smiled to myself as I walked alongside B, following the Uchiha.

He didn't speak with us until Hisaki was in sight. Even with the faint smell of ash in the air, it was an impressive sight. A towering wall, easily too high to throw a kunai over, loomed above us almost out of nowhere. How exactly we didn't see it from a long way off, I have no idea. The Uchiha was smirking as he led us towards the large gate in front of us.

Its thick wooden gates were topped by two ninja, who by their chakra reserves I deduced were of Chuunin rank. Between them, protruding from the thick wood was a crest that matched the fan icon on the back of my escort's vest. I recognized it from my bingo book as the Uchiha clan crest. The two ninja called down to the Uchiha, and he called back. The two disappeared from view momentarily, and the blacked eyed man turned to B.

"I'm afraid with the current state of our village, this is as far as you can come, for now."

"The current state?" B, of course, wanted information to bring back to the Raikage. The Uchiha seemed to understand this, and obliged.

"We're still under construction in some parts, and our Academy of Shinobi isn't open to students until next Fall. The particulars I can't share. However, once we're at full strength, you're of course welcome to visit Nii-san."

"I suppose that will have to do," B looked at me and grinned, "It's time my dear, to start your life anew!"

The Uchiha sweatdropped, but I smiled back at my brother.

"Oh B. I'll miss your ridiculous and terrible rhymes."

"MY RHYMES ARE THE GREATEST!" He shouted indignantly, but before he could complete whatever he was about to say, an almighty groaning interrupted him.

Creaks and pops rent the air as the obviously new gates opened for what might very well be one of the first times, and as the interior of Hisaki came into focus, so did two more Chuunin, who saluted the Uchiha respectfully. To my surprise, they then turned to me and saluted. I returned it after a moment's confusion, and then looked at B, who had his eyebrows raised. He winked at me, and then watched us as I walked with the Uchiha into Hisakigakure.

The gates groaned as they shut behind me, but I was paying more attention to the village itself. All around me were large wooden buildings, some missing walls, others with scaffolding surrounding them. All around me, workers scurried about carrying lumber, checking scrolls and comparing diagrams to structures. While this was all very interesting, what struck me is the path I was on. It was a highly polished wooden walkway extending from where I stood to another gate in the distance. In order to get on the path, I stepped up the three wooden steps, and began to walk. It was perhaps six feet in width, made of dark wood. The walkway was flanked on either side by various statues, very meticulously chiseled by what must have been the finest stone carvers anywhere. Here, there was an old woman, and there was a tall man with deep cheekbones. Every fifteen feet or so was a different statue, and on each, a small engraved name was sunk deep into the stone.

_Uchiha Mikoto. Uchiha Fugaku. Uchiha Shisui._

My escort noticed my interest. "Our Kage has put a strong emphasis on remembering the cost of this village, and our ideals. You walk the Uchiha Path, which runs from the East Gate through the Gate of the Massacre to the Gate of Brothers. Along here are the members of the Uchiha clan who we must not forget, because their sacrifice was one of the catalysts that birthed Hisaki."

"I…see." I looked around at the buildings still under construction. "How is it that this is finished with such skill when everything else is still being built?"

"The Kakage deemed some things more important than others. These paths were the first things built after we erected the defenses."

"The Kakage, being Uzumaki Naruto?"

"That's correct."

We continued to walk along the somewhat dusty wooden planks, when I noticed a youth, hunched over and approaching at high speeds. He was nearly upon us when I saw that he held a towel folded in his hands and was running along the path, his tongue in his teeth and a determined look in his eye. I stepped out of his way.

"What in the- " I started, only for the Uchiha to chuckle.

"Like I said earlier, our Academy hasn't opened yet, so all the hopefuls from the surrounding area, the relatives of the founding ninja, and the younger missing-nin have all been put to work cleaning, helping build, and other, character-building type things."

"Missing-nin?" I raised my eyebrow at him. "Do you harbor a lot of missing ninja?"

Raising his hand in greeting to an older fellow, Uchiha Sasuke did not answer immediately. When he did, his voice was hesitant. "We do not harbor missing ninja."

He glanced at my confused look and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm actually supposed to call them Fushichou-nin. Phoenix ninja. Missing ninja come here, subject themselves to our mind walkers and Uchiha, and if they pass our tests they're invited to pledge loyalty to the Kakage. In exchange, their crimes are pardoned and they're given a second chance."

"Oh." That sounded dangerous to me, but it really wasn't my place to pass judgment. I was new here, and didn't understand how things worked yet, after all. "Is it true that your Kakage is a Jinchuuriki?"

The Uchiha laughed. "That's an upfront question.

"Yes, he is. So you needn't worry about how you'll be received here. He's creating a culture that venerates anyone who protects and guards Hisaki and her interests, regardless of their pasts or the burdens they carry."

"This all sounds very good," I started, "But there's a catch."

We came to a half in front of the next gate, and the Uchiha sighed heavily. "The price we paid was heavy."

He looked up at the gate in front of us. It was smaller than the first, but still large enough that I could stand atop the shoulders of two other people and still not reach the top without jumping. At the apex of the arch housing the open gate, a circle was sunk deep into the wood. It was stained a dark red, and three black commas position at equal increments dotted the inside of the circle. It was a representation of the Sharingan.

"This is the Gate of the Massacre." He paused. "To live beyond this gate, you must understand the sacrifice it represents."

There were two ninja who I guessed to be of Jounin rank standing at the base of the gate. They were nodding to the occasional person who entered the gate, and I noticed that everyone who passed through paused, waiting for acknowledgement before they entered. As we approached, the two Jounin came towards us.

They saluted the Uchiha, and then stood before me, looking expectant. I looked to my guide for an explanation.

"These are two of the Guardians. All ninja of Hisaki must submit to them before leaving or entering this gate for the first time. They are volunteers who Uchiha Itachi implanted with a technique, and they're here to show you the price we Uchiha paid for Hisaki."

I gulped. This was unexpected. However, sometime between being ridiculed in Kumo and listening to my guide here, I had decided to give Hisaki a chance. It was a scary thing, to let someone who could potentially be an enemy use an unknown technique on me…but then again I did have the Nibi. I nodded at the two Jounin.

One lashed out with his arm and flicked me in the forehead hard enough for it to sting. I glared at him, and as I met his eyes, the world flashed through a thousand images and a torrent of sound assaulted my ears. Screams and blood and anguish surrounded me, and all at once, I being steadied by the Uchiha.

I looked around wildly at him. It had only lasted a second, but my brain translated as I reeled. What I had seen…the screams, the horror…I had just witnessed the Uchiha Massacre firsthand. Hovering just beyond my vision was the face straight out of my bingo book. It was the cold hard eyes of Uchiha Itachi, and I fought the urge to throw up.

When the spinning stopped, the Jounin had resumed their posts. Uchiha Sasuke made certain I was steady before he released me.

"Heaven ass and cloudburst," I swore at him, "Why the fuck would you show anyone that?!"

His eyes were kind. "For you to understand what it means to be a Hisaki Shinobi, you must understand our past."

He led me on. Once past the gate, the workers were much fewer in number. Where the buildings outside this gate were still being built, this study structures were already completed and open for business. I spied a shuriken shop on the right of the wooden path, directly across from a kunai store. As we neared, I blinked as a heavy metal kunai flew through the air in front of me and lodged in the sign of the opposing shop, reading simply 'Shuriken'.

An angered yelling came from within the aforementioned shop, and a shuriken whipped into the 'Kunai' sign. I raised my eyebrow at the Uchih-well, Sasuke.

"I haven't any idea." We continued along.

On either side of the path, behind several buildings was a long wall running almost parallel to the path we were on. On the right wall there were Uchiha clan symbols, but I didn't recognize the swirling symbol on the left wall. I pointed and asked the obvious question.

"That's the Uzumaki Compound." He indicated the other wall. "And that one is the Uchiha Compound. As the two founding clans of Hisaki, we are entitled to these compounds in the Inner Ring. The rest of the clan housing is on the Outer Ring, and you haven't seen it because they don't run along either path."

"There are two paths?" I asked, curious.

"Yes, there's the Uchiha Path, which you're on now, that tells the story of how the Uchiha came to support and found Hisaki, and on the other side of the Courtyard, there is the Uzumaki Path, which tells the story of how the Uzumaki came to support and found Hisaki.

"Wait," He paused, and shook his head. "That's not quite right. The Uchiha Path tells how _Itachi_ came to support Hisaki, and the Uzumaki Path tells how _Naruto_ came to support Hisaki…they are clan heads respectively though, so while it's their personal experiences, they encompass all of us."

Sasuke sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Honestly, all this symbolism gets confusing, and you're the first person I've brought to Hisaki, so I still haven't gotten everything straight yet."

I laughed and patted him on the shoulder. "It's okay, I understand."

He almost exploded at me in a frustrated tirade, "No you don't! We have the East Gate which represents the Uchiha's protection of Hisaki, and then you walk along the Uchiha Path, which SHOULD be called Itachi's Path, but isn't because he's still alive, and the statues represent our dead relatives, who Itachi killed under orders from Konoha, and then you come to the Gate of the Massacre, which symbolizes the culling of my family, where you have to live through the _worst night of my life_ in order to be accepted here, to the inner ring, where we will walk through the unorganized chaos of random-ass ninja shops and no roads whatsoever, only to come to _this_ stupid gate!"

He gestured angrily at the, er, gate in front of us. Calling it a gate was a stretch, it was more like an entryway. I would have to stand atop Sasuke's shoulders to touch the top of the entrance, which was actually a pair of arms. The convex wall in front of me ended with two figures hewn directly from the wall, one slightly taller than the other. The figure on the left wore a long cloak and had his hair in a ponytail, with a kindly expression on his face, while his counterpart I immediately recognized as Sasuke. The two statues were clasping each other's forearms and looking proudly into each other's eyes. It was unmistakably a scene of reconciliation.

"The Gate of Brothers," Sasuke said, a bit unnecessarily, "Representing the fact that I don't want to kill my brother anymore."

I tutted. "That's a terrible explanation."

I made a show of appreciating the scene from all angles, much to the annoyance of Sasuke, who was obviously embarrassed.

"Can we move on already?!" He had a hand on his face and I could have sworn that he was blushing.

"Oh, don't be so embarrassed." He looked at me incredulously. "I kind of like it."

For a moment his expression was unreadable. Then the incredulous look returned. "You've got to be kidding."

"I'm not!" I assured him, "So far, this is my favorite gate. One of the only bonds I have in Kumo is the one between my brothers. I don't think this is silly or anything to be embarrassed about. This is something every person should appreciate and respect."

He shook his head at me, and abruptly turned on his heel and walked through the statues without me.

"Hey!" I called indignantly, and ran after him. Catching up, I looked around. This space was smaller than the rings around us, but could by no means be called a Courtyard. It housed a large hexagonal tower that was easily tall enough to see over the first ring, but since I had not seen if from the exterior of the village, it must not be tall enough to see out.

"That's the Kage Tower," Sasuke said, pointing. "At the base will be the Academy of Shinobi, and they'll transition from those buildings to the center and back each day for classes."

He had indicated four smaller buildings visible from the path. They were spaced equidistantly from both each other and the tower.

"There, the students will learn the basic theories of Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, and Bukijutsu."

"Bukijutsu?" I had never heard of that before.

"Oh right. Kumo's Academy integrates their weapons training in with Taijutsu, but here we teach them separately. Bukijutsu is 'weapon techniques'."

"Interesting. It makes sense, I suppose."

"Come on," Sasuke said, beckoning me to follow him towards the tower, "It's time to meet the Kakage."

* * *

**Fire Country, Past**

_Hanabi_

The fools. The security had been so lax. As they scrambled to see who had killed Danzo, I slipped through amongst the chaos. Suddenly I wasn't the number one priority anymore. There was no reason to rush, as Konoha wouldn't send out any ANBU right after an assassination. They're much too busy dealing with Sasuke, and Danzo's death. Maybe they weren't anymore. It's been a while, perhaps they've organized and intend to get me back…but no one had come. Had I fallen through the cracks, or was an ANBU team out here looking for me right now?

If I had known what was going to happen, though, I would have at least been more prepared. I would have gathered some dried meat, some rations perhaps, or even some water. I was paying for it now. As the afternoon wore on, sun hot in the sky, I clutched my stomach and sighed. I had been gone for a month now. About halfway to Kiri, I realized what a stupid idea it had been. I have been avoiding travelers and hunting for my food.

"Ugh."

I came to a complete stop and considered the pangs of hunger shooting through my stomach. I hadn't eaten since the night before I left the previous town, and this was my second day of travel. As a result, my chakra was low…but not so low that I couldn't activate my bloodline for a moment to find a meal. I did, after all, have two kunai. As much as I loathe the idea of getting my hands all bloody, I disliked the pain in my stomach more. I made a hand sign, and the world warped around me. The initial release of the Byakugan is always disorienting.

That's why I didn't initially comprehend the figures slowly approaching on the road. A heartbeat after I did, however, my blood ran ice cold. Fear clutched my chest as I dove into the bushes. I hurriedly brushed together a makeshift camouflage, but froze as I heard their voices in the wind.

"I'm sick and tired of your disgusting fucking food."

"Feel free to cook for yourself, then."

"That's not what I'm fucking saying. We should get a cook."

"You killed the last cook."

"Bah, his food was awful and besides, you couldn't understand anyway."

Their footsteps sounded louder than they actually were. Unable to stop myself, I opened a single eye to catch a glimpse of these men. I only got a look at one. I took in the black cloak. The red cloud insignia. I saw a bell trinket hanging from a simple rice hat. But then my attention was drawn by the massive, wicked looking triple bladed scythe gleaming in the afternoon sun.

To my horror, they stopped.

As I lay paralyzed with fear, the bushes above me seemed to wilt, and the leaves around my body leapt into the air. It wasn't until I was suspended by the neck that I realized the man I was looking at had moved. I hung by the neck form his arm as he considered me. I clutched at his wrist, but I knew who this was. I didn't know his name, but I knew from his cloak and the terrible aura around him and the dark chakra inside of him that he was undoubtedly an Akatsuki member. One of the S-class missing ninja with a 'flee-on-sight' rating.

"Look at me."

The words had a carefree lilt to them, but I felt my heart clench anyway, and before I could even think, I was obeying his simple command. A crazy thought echoed through my head, that this man had the most beautiful purple eyes that I had ever seen.

"You look…" He grinned, "Delicious."

He dropped me to the ground and I landed in an unglorified heap. I started up at him, waiting for my death. I couldn't…wouldn't…just didn't care to fight. I would lose. It was hopeless. And death…might be a welcome escape from this cruel joke of a life.

"Make it quick." I was too terrified to look at the other man. "Leader wants us back."

The wicked looking scythe started to fall, but as it was halfway to me, my stomach growled. The man stopped, looking confused. Then, ridiculously, his stomach grumbled too. The silver haired man cocked his head, and looked at his partner. Then he looked back at me. He lowered the scythe, and I felt the top of the longest blade nip into my shoulder, just barely hard enough to draw blood.

He brought the end of the blade to his mouth, and tasted it. His partner made a disgusted noise, but the man in front of me looked pleased.

"If you can make me a good meal," He said, "I will spare your life until we get back to the hideout."

It seemed as if I didn't have a choice. So I ran into the underbrush in search of food. I didn't say a word to either of them while I prepared the rabbit, using herbs I recognized from kunoichi classes. The entire time, the man who had picked me up was berated by his partner for wasting time.

"I'm hungry!" My captor yelled, "Leader can fucking wait!"

The fight devolved into a clash of blades, but when one nearly stepped into my fire, they both sobered and stopped immediately. It struck me as ridiculous that these two would be so careful around the food. But only a few minutes later…

"Time's up." The man grabbed the prong on which I had been toasting the rabbit, and raised it to his lips.

* * *

**Iwa, Present**

_Kurotsuchi_

I didn't really believe it until the girl with red hair arrived. The note, that missive from _Hisaki_ was just…too fantastic to be true. Konoha was the stronger military power in the known world and this raven just drops a scroll in our lap saying that it was destroyed in a day. That their Kakage had defeated both of the remaining Sannin, and burned Konohagakure to the ground.

But more importantly, they demanded me, _by name_ to forsake my bonds with Iwagakure and join their new village. Considering that Hisaki has the backing of Kirigakure and Sunagakure, we don't much have a choice. Who would be our ally in an engagement? Kumo? We just came out of a war with Kumo!

Besides. Iwa cannot afford to make new enemies. Not with a brand new Tsuchikage and a shaky ninja force.

Akatsuchi will never be the same. He stopped laughing, his fat has turned to hard muscle, and he's no longer known as the Tsuchikage's Bodyguard. No, now my partner is called Akatsuchi of the Broken Mountain, Yondaime Tsuchikage. The story of how, upon seeing Gramps swatted out of the sky by B of Kumo, Akatsuchi went into a terrible rage, clasping his hand and making the earth shake.

Dust and small stones had risen from the ground, and the massive peak behind him crumbled and covered him in a landslide. The mountain itself groaned, deep and rumbling, and then stood up. The mountain. Stood up. When the enemy had been crushed, my old friend had fallen from the titanic golem's shoulder, and slept for a week. When we woke him, he simply took charge. There was no question, no squabble over who would take over for the late Sandaime.

But now I won't be here to support him. I guess he doesn't really need it. Everyone loves Akatsuchi and he encounters very little opposition. Then again like a true Iwa shinobi, opposition doesn't even give him pause. He will make a fine Tsuchikage.

He allowed me to leave quietly with this Karin girl, and on the way to Hisaki, she filled me in on what had happened.

A Black Operative had gone rogue, forged alliances with Hidden Villages, and then razed his former home to the ground. I was taken aback. That was very bloody. Very brutal. But then again, Iwagakure has its own Black Ops program, and everything that has anything to do with it is brutal and sudden, much like the siege of Konoha.

There was no love lost, of course. Konoha had been an ally of circumstance, and with what the scroll to Akatsuchi had said, fabricated much of the motivators that caused us to ally with them in the first place! Not to mention that a Konoha ANBU team had tried to assassinate me years ago. Until recently we hadn't known it was Konoha…but the scroll made sense. The pieces did fit into place…

Apart from the brief history lesson, Karin was pretty quiet for the journey to Hisaki.

When we came upon the village, it was, fitting in with the theme of the day, very sudden. Out of nowhere, a huge wall loomed over us. It must have been a Genjutsu or a trick for me not to have seen it miles out. Above the massive gates was a spiral insignia, the same that adorn Karin's shoulder. She identified it as the Uzumaki clan crest, and ushered me inside.

Around us were a great many buildings in construction, and if I looked closely to my left, there was another small entryway with a different insignia above the door. Must be a clan compound. Directly in front of me, however, was a wooden pathway, stained a deep reddish brown color. We stepped up onto it and proceeded towards the heart of the village.

Around us, along the path we were walking, were many statues spaced about fifteen feet apart. The first was a tall man with spikey hair that I recognized.

"The Yellow Flash?"

Karin considered the statue. "These statues all symbolize a person that helped motivate, in whatever capacity, the Uzumaki clan to found Hisaki with the Uchiha."

As we continued walking, I looked interestedly at the different statues. This person was garbed in what appeared to be specialized gear, with a tiger mask covering his face. The plaque identifying the statue simply read _'Tenzo'_.

There were several more statues, including a Hyuuga, another masked figure, and another person I recognized out of my bingo book, Hatake Kakashi. The final two statues were of the Sannin, the famed Toad Sage Jiraiya, and the legendary medic, Senju Tsunade.

So engrossed in looking at the different statues I was that when we happened on the second gate, I didn't realize it. I looked up at the white circle above the gate and at the two Jounin approaching us and raised a quizzical eyebrow at Karin.

"This is the Gate of Slaughter."

"That's a sort of depressing name, isn't it?" I lowered my eyebrow and glanced at the white circle.

"At this point, I am afraid you will need to submit to a technique. It won't hurt you, I promise."

Although apprehensive, I acquiesced. After all, I couldn't cement Iwa's alliance with this new village by holding out. I faced the Jounin, and one reached out to tap my forehead lightly, and as I looked at him in confusion, the darkness and the flames hit me.

The world warped and twisted and I saw and somehow _was_ a dark figure eviscerating and slashing, laughing at a terrified Genin, and listening to the world burn around me. I felt the cold fury, and heard the screams. When it stopped, my world was spinning and the woman in red hair was holding me upright.

"Are you okay?" She asked, obviously concerned.

"Y-yes," I swore vehemently, then, "Why did you show me that?!"

Karin looked down. She didn't immediately answer, and when she did, her voice was subdued. "If you're to be successful here, to really commit yourself to our ideals, you have to understand the pain we've gone through to get here. The lives we've ended. The sacrifices we've made. You have to understand the great cost it took for us to get into this position."

She wordlessly proceeded through the gate, and I followed. We continued on the wooden platform through various shops of all sorts. She explained about the outer ring and the inner ring, and explained about different Clan Compounds, and eventually let me to the final gate.

"The Gate of Affection."

I was momentarily struck dumb. Carved directly out of the sides of the inner wall was a likeness of my guide, Karin, holding hands with another person. A person that I recognized. A person who had once tried to kill me. A person who had watched as I executed his teammates.

"Who…" I blinked at the statue, and then at her. "I don't…"

"That," She said, nodding fondly at the imposing carving of Naruto, "Is my husband, the Shodaime."

There was only one thought that broke through the haze of numbness in my head.

_Fuck._

* * *

**Konoha, Present**

_Naruto_

The curve of her smile in the waning light was sweeter than anything I had ever tasted. I watched the sun play through her pale pink hair and flash in her stunning mint green eyes. My teammate kicked her legs happily next to me as I grinned and scratched the back of my head. Between us were a basket and a checkered blanket.

It had been a good picnic. Sandwiches and old war stories had made an excellent evening with Sakura, enjoying the sunset on the top of the Yondaime's head.

"Do you remember," She giggled before continuing, "The look on Sasuke's face when you appeared out of nowhere and caught his wrist?"

I chortled with laughter. "He looked like he had swallowed Gamakichi!"

We laughed long and hard, and when we had recovered, our hands were touching. Her skin was warm in my hand. I breathed a long, happy sigh as I remembered the great feeling of dragging Sasuke back. How Jiraiya had eaten his words in the hospital and how happy Sakura had been. She had smiled and hugged me and just like we were doing now, kissed me.

Her lips were the softest, sweetest things. I immediately corrected my earlier conviction of her sweet smile being the nicest thing.

We broke apart and I leaned back as she snuggled against my chest. She breathed happily and looked up at me. I smiled down at her and I heard Sasuke yelling in the background. When she spoke, it was low and meant only for me.

"They're waiting for you."

I smiled down at her. They could wait. I leaned down to capture her lips again, only as I did, I felt her turn cold in my arms. My mouth tasted like ash, so I turned and spat black paste onto the monument next to me. When I looked at Sakura again, I realized she was really Hinata, blood dribbling out of the side of her mouth, skin pale and cold. I tried to push her off but her body had gone stiff, clinging to my clothes as I tried to break away from her.

The world was shaking. A deep rumbling laugh was echoing through the village as I stood, spinning around to find the source. Instead, I was in my apartment, graffiti still on the walls. I recognized the cracked tiles in my old bathroom, but worst of all was the cracked mirror, where I saw a mask carved form bone, a stylized wolf emblazoned on the human remains. Impossibly, the mask had cracked open where the mouth should have been and I realized the dark laughter was coming from me. I clamped my hands over my mouth, but the laughing only got harder.

I burst out of the bathroom into the Hokage's office, where Jiraiya and Tsunade were sitting, bodies ruined and barely recognizable, shaking their heads in disgust and disappointment at me. Kakashi's headless, charred corpse was standing in a corner, trying to read an orange book, but couldn't get it right without a head or eyes.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and suddenly the entire world was cold and something was tangling in my limbs. I flailed out with blades and hit the floor, rising even as I fell, blades singing through the air as I roared my challenge. Wildly, I looked around my office in Hisaki, at the blanket on the floor, and the chair in which I had been sitting. Itachi was standing in a corner, looking nonplussed at my violent display.

I replaced my weapons and wiped the sleep from my eyes, before leveling a questioning stare at the Uchiha.

"The transfers from Kumo and Iwa have arrived. They're awaiting you downstairs."

With that, Itachi left.

* * *

**Somewhere, Present**

_Hanabi_

Alas, my usefulness was at an end. My scant few extra months of life have come to a close, as my captors, now named Hidan and Kakuzu, have arrived at their camp. Originally they were only going to keep me for a few days, but I had taken it upon myself to set up a semi-comfortable camp every night, and was very diligent at gathering and preparing food. Hidan had decided to postpone my death for a couple extra days every time he woke from a softer bed than he otherwise would have had.

But now there were two more members in the group, and they were expecting to meet more. The first was blond, with a black pouch at his hip. He eyed me warily and exchanged some low words with his partner, who was faced away from me and in shadow.

I guess we were all in shadow. The cave, while large, was lit only by the entrance. We were deep enough inside for it to be difficult for me to make out features, even with my exceptional eyes. Unless I activated my bloodline, which I was _not_ going to do in the presence of four S-class missing ninja, they were all just general features. They didn't seem bothered by the darkness, however.

His partner brought something to his mouth, and a bright spark flashed, briefly lighting up his face and hands, although I was at the wrong angle to see. A small red circle appeared where I judged his lips to be and shone brightly for a moment before going dull. I heard him exhale and face me. After a moment's consideration, he took another pull on the cigarette, causing the tip to flare momentarily, and to my shock and confusion, illuminated his face. I knew this man.

"Well, thanks for the food, Hanabi." Hidan said a short prayer and raised his scythe over my head for the second time. I glanced at the blond, who suddenly looked pensive, and locked eyes with the man in front of me.

He had changed a little; that was true. He had a sharp goatee now, and clearly, he had taken up smoking. His hair was a little longer, and his nails were painted black, but undoubtedly, the owner of the eyes I held as my life came to an end was Nara Shikamaru.

"Wait."

As Hidan swore and averted his scythe, I blinked. Shikamaru's lips hadn't moved. The blond next to him spoke again.

"Hanabi?" He asked, looking at me with some interest.

"Y-yes." I decided that since I was going to die, I might as well pretend to be confident.

Shikamaru, eyes still on mine, leaned closer to his partner and whispered something to him before standing, turning, and heading deeper into the cavern.

"A Hyuuga, huh?" The man scratched his chin, and I had an odd feeling that there was something in his hand. "I'm Deidara…yeah."

"Nice to meet you," I said, offering my hand. "I'm about to die."

He shook my hand and then focused on Hidan.

"I'll trade you a life for her, Hidan."

"Fuck you, she's already promised to Jashin!" The man raised his scythe again; intent on killing me, but Deidara intervened. I hadn't even seen him move. They were all so _fast_! "You bastard!"

I couldn't really understand the battle going on in front of me. It was so dark, and they were moving so fast that it just looked like a quick scuffle. This went on for almost a full minute with a booming voice echoed throughout the cavern.

"**Assemble."**

Immediately, they calm and spun towards the voice, walking in that direction. As he brushed past me, Deidara clipped my temple, and the ground rushed up to meet me.

When I woke, we were outside. I sat up blearily and saw Deidara perched on a stone above me, regarding me. Behind him, Shikamaru was leaning against a tree, a half-finished cigarette in his mouth.

"Hanabi." Deidara was looking at me wonderingly. He said my name again.

"Hanabi, as in fireworks."

* * *

**A\N: Allow me to remind you once again that this is book two. Please review, and note and errors you find so that I may fix them. Thanks,**

**FS**


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